Vending machine



sept. 21, 1926. www

J. FRITSCHE 'ET AL.

VENDI NG MACHI NE Filed April 18, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet l v figw y www.

ATTORNEYS.

' Sept. 21 1926. lll

v J. FRITSCHE ET AL.

VENDING MACHINE Filed April 18, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 2v J. FRITSCHE ET AL VENDING MACHINE Filed April 18, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Y Sept. 21 1926.

J. FRITSCHE ET AL VENDNG MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed @nl 18 1922 Patented Sept. 21, 1926.

UNITED s-rar JOHN rarrscHn-or Mnnroir, AND JOSEPH c; Hanni, or PHILADELPHIA. iaiszitnsirn` WANIA.; sain Hanta .assieuoa 'roy saine Fairscnaf VENDING MACHINE.

Applicationl filed April 18, 1922. Serial No.. 554,933.

G11-r. present invent-ion comprehends a nov-l el vending machine which is adapted to dispense automatically the article purchased Whena che/cker coin ofl proper denomination is` inserted into the machine.

The articles vented are preferably con-v tained Within a package or box althou-gh this is not essential With many types of articles.

It further comprehends a novel constructiona-nd arrangement offa casing having a seriesv of compartments in Which the articles are superimposed; a novel construction and arrangement of an article removing member having means to clamp the article on coming intocontactwith it; novel means to effectthe release of an article when it.

reaches deli`verypositiong novel means for rendering it necessary for the article remo`ving member to move its full stroke and a novel construction` and arrangement of coin controlled mechanism tonormally lock the article removing membery in its neutral or initial position, to unlock said member and to eifect the resetting of the coin mechapear in the detailed description rand the appended claims. For the purpose of illustrating our 1ndrawingsv a typical embodiment thereof which is at present preferred by us, since this embodiment Will be found in practiceto give satisfactory and reliable results..v It is, however, to be understood that the various instrumentalities yof 'which our vinvent-ion consists can be variously arranged and organized and that our invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of these instrumentalities as herein shown and described.

Figure l represents, in perspective, a vending machine, embodying our invention.

. Figure 2 represents a sect-ion on line 2 2 of Figure -5. Y

Figure represents a front elevation of an article delivering mechanism and certain of its adjuncts.

:repairs Whenever desired.V

Figure 4 represents, in front elevation, the

article delivery member and certain 4ofits adjnncts. y

Figurafrepresents a front elevation/of the mach-me with the front door ofpenl.

Figure 6 represents a section on` line 6-Y6 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 represents, a section on line of Figure 8.

Figure 8 represents al section `on line S-'Sj of Figure 7.

Figure 9 represents, in perspectivelfthe;

of the door by'yvhich it is carried.

YFigureilO represents aside elevationfoff certain parts seenin Figure 9. f

Figure 11 represents,l in side elefation,I cert-ain 'part-s seen in Figure .9.

coin controlling mechanism anda portionE Figure 1 2 represents a fsectionfv on line 'Y 12- 12 of Figure9. Y f

Figures 13V and 14 vrepresent front-eleva# tions of the articlerenewingY member in de-V tached position in conjunction with certain; co-operating `means and shows the parts ink different relationvvith respectto each other from that seen in. Figure 3.'

Similar numerals: of reference indicate j corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings.:

1 designates the casingof a vending niachine, embodying our invention. The top',

bottom, sides and rear' Wall of the casing are closed and the front Wallis pro'videdvvvith` a'. door 2-Which is hinged to the casing atiS andv which isfprovided With alkeycontrolled locl 4. The door 2 forms With therest off the'l front 'Wall V5 of the casing a slot 6 and the Wall 5 is provided With an article delivery opening 7 ,4 which 'communicates with pocket 8 Within the casing and to'vvhich the arti# cles are lautomatically delivered when' a check or coin ofthe proper denomination is inserted in the coin slot 9 carried-.by thedoor 2..'1

The coin. mechanism. 1

'The coin controlled mechanismis mounted on the back ofY the' door 2in order'that it may be readily accessible for inspection or Referring novv vmore 1oartitnularlyv to; Figf'.

ures 5V and 9, .the c'oinslot 9 registers with a coin chute lOfvvhi'chl isconstrin'zted'y substan-k tially in accordance vvith" the Fritsche patent for fraud preventative device Nolf,

4.0,. 17 andhas its `treeA end bearing against the provided with a pivotedside 11 which is 'retained against they fixed side of the'coin chute'by means of a spring12. lThe iiXed portion 'of the coin chute is provided with VVa pivoted arm 13 which is weighted and which is provided with a screw 14 so that the extent of its downward movement can belimited. l The arm 13 is vin spaced re- Y y v lationship with respect to a set screw 15 carried bythe pivoted sideY 11 of the coin chute. Ita check or coin inserted into the coin slot 9 is of ther'proper dimension'and denomination for which the machine is set,

itpasses from lthe Vcoin, chute 10 into acoin retainer 16 secured tothe plate 17 lon which the coincontrollingmechanism Vis mounted,

said plate being operatively connected with 'the door 2 in any desired manner.. The coin 'Y retainer 16 has a slot 18 Vopening through its` top'r and bottom, and the bottom of this 1 slot is normally closed jby thelaterally de- Y leetedV portion of a pivoted member 19 which 2"5 Vhas a. spring hinge 20, lso that the laterally delieet-edlip 21 normally closes `the bottomV ot the slot 18 through the coinv retainer 16 so y thatthe coin 22 will rest on the `lipd21 within the coin retainer. l Y Y Y The-coin retainer is provided with a slot 23 4into which is adapted topass the cam shaped portion 24- of' a lever 25 iulcrumed on the plate17.` This lever -is maintained in its neutralposition by Vmeans of a spring V26 one endfof` which is connected with said lever and kthe other end of which is connectedl toA a fixed point such as,for example. a pin Y Q27 extending from the plate 17. `The lever Y 25 has pivotally connected with it one'endof a lever 28.which is fulcrumed on the plate pivoted side 1l of the Vcoin chute to effect the V@opening 'of said coinchute.` .Thelever25 has also pivotally connectedrto it one Vend of av bar 29., the lower `end ory said barbeing .n VguidedV in theslotv3() oi' a block 31 secured .to the rearof the door 2.-

TheV bar 29 carrles a roller 32. Y Y

. 33 designates a lever fulcrumed. on the plate and-this lever is in the form oit' an elbow lever,y theupper arm of which has pivotallyconneeted to it'la bar 34 which is guid- Y ed in a slot 35 in th'ebloek 31 and provided with a roller 36..y Thisrbar 34 is provided` l,Wlth aca-m shaped lug 37 which is adapted Vto seat atcertain times'infarecess 38 in the top facer of the bloclr31... `The lever 33 has -Ypivotedto it one end vof an L-shaped arm isa-dapted during the operation to engage the'pivoted memberr19 and move it into the end connected to the arm 39 and its opposite end connected to the pin 27.

44V designates a return chute ,the upper end y ot' which is opened and positioned beneath Vthe coin chute 10 so that ii the coin does not pass through the coin chute and is retained therein itV will drop into the return chute 44 and drop into the pocket 8 when the pivoted sidefll of the coin chute is open.

In order to close the coin slotv9' when thev n machine is empty, we providey a platel45pivotallyA mounted at its lower endy and Ahaving connected atits upper end one end of a rod 46, the opposite end oi" which as seen in Figure 5 is connected to one end ont` an elbow lever 47 to which is also connected a rod 48 which is connected with a rock 4shaft 49 mounted on a cover plate 50.` Apivoted ylever 5l is connected to the other end of the rock shatt 49'byfmeans of a pin and slot connection and the parts are so weighted that in the position y-seen in Figur-e 5 the coinslot can be closed bythe plate .45* and the'lower'end of thelever 51 will be'roolred inwardly towards a package or article to be vended 52 but suohinward movement will bev limited by the lastpacliage in the last compartment; so'that whenv the door '2 is closed the coin slot 9 will be uncovered by the plate 45 until th-e Vlast package has been vended, as will hereinafter be explained.v

leneath the coin retainer is positioned the moneyblox 53. rlhe'casing l has secured in its bottom portion in any desired manner a plate one end of which is downwardly deflected, as at 55, to form a wall of the Joclet- 8. Jfibovethis plate 54 are secured the angles 56V the laterally extending lower flanges of which `form supports and guides for the articles to beivended. The laterally extending flanges of the angles 56 are cut away, as indicated at 57, Ysee Figurer', so that when the articles are above the pocketsY 8 Aand released Ifrom the article carrier they will drop by gravity into such poclrets'8.

ln proximity to the pockets 8 the Vvertically extendingl flanges ot `the angles v56 are provided wi'th the *slotsY 58, see Figure 7 andV also f5 and 8.VV v

rlhe rear angle A56, see Figure 2, has al bar securedV tothe rear wall of the casing` Abelow it so as to form a slot 69 and in a similar manner the door 2. and the cover plate 5 'form avslot 6l'said'slot"servingas rguides for the article removingfmember 62,

see more particularly Figures 3 and 4.` rEhe article removijn member 62 is provided with bottom plate 63 to which Vis secureda bar 64 slid'able in-the slotr 6.0 and also aber 65 slidable in the slot Y61.V Thisib'ar 65 is provided with a grasping portion 66 by the hey 6'? which travels ina leyway 68 carried by the front plate 5, see Figure 2.A

Vmear-is of wh'iehfit is manipulate/denti Valso'` 130V The door" 2 is provided with an *inwardlyA extending' bottom flange 9vwhich`co`ntributes to form a guide for the article removing member. The bar l has secured to it in any desired manner a'vertically disposed cam plate having projecting from its forward' edge a cam 71 provided with a forwardly and inwardly extending cam surface 72. Above this cam 71 is pivoted at'73 a stop 74C in' the form of an arm having Va hook 75 at vits forward end and provided with a spring 76 one end' of which is connected to the stop 74 as seen in Figure et while its opposite end'is connected to a fixed point, for example, a screw 77.

The front face of the cam plateYO is pro- 1 vided with a cam face '.7 8 which inclines forwardly and upwardly. The cam plate 7 0 carries abovethe cam face` 78 a cam bloclr 79, the top face yof which inclines forwardly and' downwardly, as azt- 80, andy rearward.- ly and downwardly, as at 81. lts under face -in'clines forward and upwardly, as indicated at 82, and rearwardly andy upwardly, as indicated at 88, so that the cam block 7 9 has substantially a diamond contour. The cam plate 70 at its front upper end is provided with the upwardly extending lug 8d, the top face of which inclines forwardly and downwardly, seeV more particularly Figures 31. and 14.. 'The bottoni plate 68 of the article removing member has fulcrumed on it at the clamping levers 86, see morel particularly Figures 4, 7 and 8'.. The rear ends of these'. levers are ldeflected outwardly and carryv on their inner face the studs 87 which position a spring 88,. the tendency of which 'is to. move towards each other the forward ends of the clamping levers 86, the forward portions off which arerearwardly and .inwardly deflected toform the jaws 89, the free edges of which vare preferably serrated; The clamping levers 86 are angularly deflected?, as at 90, in order to conform to the. shape of the package. or article which vis to. be vended and as the package ill-ustrated' is substantially rectangular the clamping'levers are clamped to4 form sub-y stantially a right angle..

It will be' understood from Figure 7 that the forward portions 91, are bentlaterally so that during their forwardmovement they will ride against the upwardly extending` flanges of the angle 5,6 which causes the clamping or grippingportions of the lever tomove towards each other and be retained' posed have been The cam face on thelugSl, co-operates f of the lever 97 has a pin and slot con-V nection Vat 102 with aroclr shaft- 103 mount.-

ed -in theanglcs't andV provided with thc depending L-shaped hooks which are raised by a package on the return stroke of the article removing member to raise the lever 9'(` so that its stop members 101and99` will be out of the path Vof the lug '84 on the cam face 70. The clamping levers 86 are released by means of a lil-shaped releasing member 105 secured in any desired manner in fixed position vin the path of the outward- V ig endg of the clamping levers when fcle .removing mem-ber reaches its rearward position. rEhe releasing with. the spaced arms which preferably diivergetowards their free ends. The cam face 72 of the cam ?1 is adaptedl to co-opcrate with the cam face 106 and thecam 10'?, see more particularly Figures 5, 6 and 7. lVe will nent describe the cabinet portion of the machine in which the articles to be vended are sold. As will be understood by reference to Figures 2 and 5, tlie'rear'wal'l 108l of the cabinet has connected with it a bar 109 to which is secured a rear plate 110 to which are connected in anyV desired man- 4ner the rear ends ofthe partitions 111. The

top of these partitions are secured in anyy downward movement of the rock shaft `103,l see Figure 6. 'The lowerv ends ofthe partitions 111 are simply cut away, as at 117, Isee 'Figure 2, 118 designates the packages or articles which are to be vended which'are su.-

perimposed upon each other intheir respec-V tive article receiving chamber 115.v l y The operation of ourncvel vending machine will now be vapparent to those skilled in this art and is asfollows:- p Assuming nowY thatv all the compartments 115 in whic-h the articles are superimiilled and vthat the parts of the coin mechanism are'in their-initial or neutral position; thatthe article carrier is in the position it assumes` when at the' reary end of the stroke and that4 the door is locked, the machine is ready for operation.` The'intending purchaser glaces' a. check or coin of the proper denomination inthe coin rlhis plate 1118 is'pro-y nember 105 is v.provided slot 9 and the coin will pass through the coin chute 10 and be received in the coin retainer 16 and will come to reston the laterally deflected larm 40 ofthe member 39. Ait this Vtime the bar 34 is in its raised position and this bar V34, as will be understood by reference to Figurell, is connected to the lever y 33 which in turn is connected to the member 39 .which carries the .arm 40 on which the coin is resting. the parts pist described being retained in set position by means of the spring 43 and the bracket 41 interlocking with the walls of the slot 42 of the member 39. rhel purchaser now takeshold of the handle port-ion 66 of the article removing j member and moves it towards the left. Y The roller 32 carried by the bar 29 is .at

- this time in its raised position by means of i the spring 26.

As the article carrier is moved forwardly, the roller 32 is in the path of the cam face 32 so that such forward movement-of the article removing;L member 62V causes the bar 29 to be drawn downwardly, see 4inoi'e particularly Figures 13 and 3.

As the bar 29 moves downwardly, it rocks the lever on its fulcrum thereby causing' the cani shapedA portion 24 to move'into the slot 123 and engage the coin or check which is in the coin retainer and this pressure on the check or coin causes the latter to move downwardly sufficiently Vfor the upper arm of th'ebracket 41 to be released from the Vrecess 42 in the arm 39 whereupon the Vspring` 43 will draw'the arm 39 rearwardly and permit the coin to drop from the coin retainer 16 into'tlie money boX 53, see Figure 5. This rearward movement of the member 39 rocks the lever 33 on its fulcrum therebyY causing` the bar 34 to move downwardly andthe lug or cam 37 will be received Ain. the'recess33 of the guide block 31, so that 4the lug 37 isiiowin the'position seen in Figure 9'. Y Y Y As the article reinovingmember moves forwardly in the manner just described, the lug 34,A see Figuresc13 and 14, rides under the stop Ymember 99 and as it passes by the .cam` face 100 the arm97 will berocked on its fulcrum 98Ythereby rocking the rock shaft 'Y :to

.theY lever 97 willV drop into its -tion seen in Figure 14 so that 1 39 'Mare moved towards Jfianges of the anp-fles shoulder 101 normal posiafter the article removing` member has moved forwardly it rcannot beV returned to its starting` position unless an article has been taken up and is being Ycarried bythe article removing mem- 103 and -as'it'passes thestop ber on its return movement. the article removing member moves forwardly, the jaws each other by their engagement with the upwardly extending The article retrieving` member is moved l forwardly until Vthe clainpinr jaws grip the Y -l'owermost article in the first c iamber which `contain `s anf-article and as the spring 33 is provided, see kFigure 7, the clamping jaws Ywill rresilientlyy engage and grip4 opposite ends of an article. Y 1

rlhe operator now moves the article receiving member rearwardly and vas the article comes in the path of the hooks or fingers 104.

the shaft 103 will be rocked so that the cam which they have been carrying and the arf ticle will fall into the pocket Sinto a position accessible to the purchaser.k The last article in the last compartment presses against the cam 107 so that its inward movement is limited and the coin slot is uncovered by the plate 45. l/Vhen the article removing' member is advancedk to vendqtlie last article, the cam surface 72 moves thev cam 107 away from suoli article so -that ythe clamping jaws 89 can take hold of the last article. When the last article is vended the cam 107 is free to swing inwardlyso that the coinV slot will ybe closed byr the plate 45. It will be seen that. the article removing` member after once being started in its forward movement after its release by the coin `mechanism cannot be again returned Vto its starting position unlessY it has been moved sufficiently in a forward `direction vfoithe clamping'jaws to pickup an article. Y n

lf the article removing member on .its

return movement doesnot carry Yan article then the cam lever 97 will be in its lowermost position so that the stop member 101 is inthe path of the lug 34, seefonexainple Figure 14.V After the coin .mechanism has Y been unlocked, it is automatic-ally reset so that on the lreturn movement of the article removing,` member the .lug V37 on lthe bar 34 is in the path of the hook ofthe stop 74' and this hook -is provided withv a cam face so that it will ride over the lugv 37 being Ymoved upwardly againstthe tension of the spring 7 6 andit will thenpdropinto the po'- sition seen in .Figure 3 so Vthat it will be impossible to move thel article removing member forwardly to vobtain'an article yun'- less another check or coin, has been: deposited in the coin mechanism, The stopf99 acts as a safety stop so thatpif a coin has r'been' deposited in the machine-the article removing` member cannot be moved rearwardly to its startino; position unless it has suiiiciently to clamp an article. ,l

first imparted to it its full Vfoivard stroke f VlThe coinY mechanism-is yreleased by the cainface V82 during the forward movementv 'ot thearticle removing member as this draws downwardly the bar 29,. This Vas before explained -eiiects the downward movement 'ol' ythe bar Se so that as the article removing member moves forwardly. after the colin mechanism has been` released the rolle-r 36 on. thebar 84 will engage the cam race 8O ofthe cam block TQWthei-eby causing ,the bar Salto move upwardly thus rocking the lever 33 and moving the member 3,9 forwardly suthciently to causev the walls ofthe recess l2 to interlock with the upper arm `ot the bracket 41 so that, the laterally extending arm 40 will close the bottom of the coin retainer 1.6 and the coin mechanism is reset ready for the next operation.

The bottom 'of the slot V18 of the coin retainer 16 is normally closed by the lip 21 and whenthe coin mechanism is in set positionv it is moved outwardly as will be understood by reference toligure 12. 'When the bar 29 is moved downwardly to rock thel lever 25 the lever 28 isiroclredl to` eliecft the openingl of the pivoted sidell. of the coin chute'10 so that any article'ietained in the `coin chute will pass V.through the return chute la and will drop into the pocket 8 into a position accessible to the intending purchaser'.

It will now be apparent that we have devised anew and useful vending machine which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description, and while we have, in the present instance,

shown and described ar preferred embodiment thereof which will give in practice .satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that such embodiment is susceptible of modiiication in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention or sacrificing any ot its ad-V vantages. v

Having thus described our invention what we claim asvnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. 1n a vending machine, acasing having a series of article receiving compartments in which the articles to be vended are superimposed, an article removing member movable with respect to said compartments andincludingV clamping jaws automatically con trolled during the movement of said article removing member tol iirst remove the articles from one compartment and then from the next compartment, meansto-lock said mem-.

ber in position, and means to eiigectthe release of said member. v

2. In a vending machine, a casing having a series of article receiving compartments in which the articles to be vended arev supert imposed, an article removing member movable with respect tovsaid compartments and trollcd during the movement of. said article removing member .to first remove `the articles in alignment with each other,fan article -re-` moving member adapted to :travel into and through said .compartments and .having means `including clamping jaws. .automatically controlled duringfthe movement voi? 'said article removing member to automatically y grip and clamp Van article in a compartment,

stop mechanism in the `path. of saidfmember on its return movement to prevent the return including-.clampingjaws .automatically icon'- or said member it an article is not -carrziedby Y it, means actuated by van .article carried `by said member .to eiect the rel-ease ,ot said stop mechanism and permit theliull 'return movement of said member. and means to automaticallyA release vsaid :clamping members. v f

ll. In a vending machine,A acas'ing hav-A ing a series of .article receiving vcompartments, article removingmeansV comprising q a vreciprocatory member having clamping members, means to cause saidmembers to engage and clamp an article in theiiearest compartment on their forward movement, an-d means to eect the release of said clamping mechanismen the return movement of said article removing'means.-

5. In a vending machine, a casing having a compartment in which the articles to be vended are superimposed, an article removing member slidably mounted andhaving clamping members movably mounted thereon and adapted to automatically grip opposite sides of an article, releasing means .for said clamping memberaniean's to lock said article removing member in'itsinoperative position, and means to effect the release of saidarticle removing member to render it operative'.

6.'In a vending machine, aucasing having a series of article receivingcompartments in which the articles move downwardly 'by' gravity, anV article removing member coinprisiii'g'a single reciprocatory member slidablyl mounted with respect to said compartments and 'having means to automatically clamp the lowermost article with `which it engages, means to lock said member s in its inoperative position, means Lto Vrender said member operative, and means to eect'lthe release ofA an article from said article removing member when the latter reaches its delivery position.

7 In a vending machine, a casing having y a seriesv of -article receiving compartments prevent the latters return if an art cle is ,andz a delivery opening, an article removing membery comprising a single reciprocatory member/to automatically remove an article from its compartment and deliver it in proximity to said delivery opening, means to automatically Vcause 'said article removing member Vto release an article :when it reaches f delivery position, and mechanism'for .ren-

vdering said article Vremoving member operative or inoperative. j Y

In a vending machine, a casing having an article receiving compartment, an article removing member including a pair or' inde pendently iulcr med clamping jaws movable into,v the path of article to receiveit and.

Ycarry it to delivery position, and having ,a stop portion, a movably mounted member havingfa stop portion to engage the stop portion or" said article removing ymember and Y- not carried`A by it, *andl means operatively Y lconnected with said movably mounted mem- 1a vreciprocatory article removing member Vber andlactuated by an article'being delivered by said article removing memberl to move the jstop portion/.fof the movaloly mounted member out of the path of the Vstop portion of the article removing member. l 9; Ina vending` machine, a casing having series of article Vreceivingcompartments,

Yslidable in the path of the end articles in said' compartments and having means to lantomatically clamp an artiele and' carry it tojdelivery position, means to eiect the release of an article'when the article removing member reaches vdeliveryposition, and

mechanism for rendering said article removing member operative or inoperative'to their movement towards saidl compartment,v

and means to Vautomatically release said clamping members when an article is to be deliveret. f i Y Y 1l. ln a vending machine, a casing having an articlereceiving compartment, a-delivery opening', an article'removing member slidable between sai-d compartment'and opening and including ulcrumed'olamping levers1 the forward ends of ySaid levers 'beingl rearwardly deflected to form clampingY jaws, ymembers arrangedY 1n said casing tormove said levers into clamping position rduring their movement towards said compartment,

and means to automatically Yrelease said clamping members when an article is to be delivered.

JOHN Fairsonn. JOSEPH C. HADIK. 

